Cannabis leaves are palmately divided--normally
into 3-7 leafletsoccasionally into 11-13. Leaflets vary
in length from 2 to 6 inches.

CLASSIFICATION OF CANNABIS is disputed
by botanists. They disagree about the family to which it belongs and also
about the number of species. The plant is sometimes placed in the fig or
mulberry family (Moraceae) or the nettle family (Urticaceae), but it is
now usually separated, together with the hop plant (Humulus), into
a distinct family: Cannabaceae. It has been widely thought that there
is one species, Cannabis sativa, which, partly as a result of selection
by man, has developed many "races" or "varieties," for better fiber, for
more oil content, or for stronger narcotic content. Selection for narcotic
activity has been especially notable in such areas as India, where intoxicating
properties have had religious significance.. Environment also has probably
influenced this biologically changeable species, especially for fiber excellence
and narcotic activity. Current research indicates that there may be other
species: C. indica and C. ruderalis. All Cannabis is native
to central Asia.

Chinese characters TA MA, the oldest known name
for cannabis

TA (pronounced DA). Literally this means an adult
man, and by extension may signify great or tall.

MA. It represents a fiber plant, literally a clump
of plants, growing near a dwelling. Hence, the two symbols together mean
"the tall fiber plant,'' which everywhere in China signifies cannabis.HISTORY OF CANNABIS USE dates to ancient
times. Hemp fabrics from the late 8th century B.C. have been found in Turkey.
Specimens have turned up in an Egyptian site nearly 4,000 years of age.
In ancient Thebes, the plant was made into a drink with opium-like effects.
The Scythians, who threw cannabis seeds and leaves on hot stones in steam
baths to produce an intoxicating smoke, grew the plant along the Volga
3,000 years ago. Chinese tradition puts the use of
the plant back 4,800 years. Indian medical writing, compiled before 1000
B.C., reports therapeutic uses of cannabis. That the early Hindus appreciated
its intoxicating properties is attested by such names as "heavenly guide"
and soother of grief. " The Chinese referred to cannabis as "liberator
of sin" and "delight giver." The Greek physician Galen wrote, about A.D.
160, that general use of hemp in cakes produced narcotic effects. In 13th
century Asia Minor, organized murderers, rewarded with hasheesh, were known
as hashishins from which may come the term assassin in European languages. Hemp as a source of fiber was introduced
by the Pilgrims to New England and by the Spanish and Portuguese to their
colonies in the New World.

Objects connected with the use of cannabis
were found in frozen tombs of the ancient Scythians, in the Altai Mountains
and the border between Russia and Outer Mongolia. The small, tepee-like
structure was covered with a felt or leather mat and stood over the copper
censer (four-legged stool-like object). Carbonized hemp seeds were found
nearby. The two-handled pot contained cannabis fruits. The Scythian custom
of breathing cannabis fumes in the steam bath was mentioned about 500 B.C.
by the Greek naturalist Herodotus.

THE MEDICINAL VALUE OF CANNABIS has been
known for centuries. Its long history of use in folk medicine is significant,
and it has been included more recently in Western pharmacopoeias. It was
listed in the United Shtes Pharmacopoeia until the 1930's as valuable,
especially in the treatment of hysteria. The progress made in modern research
encourages the belief that so prolific a chemical factory as Cannabis
may indeed offer potential for new medicines.

THE CHEMISTRY OF CANNABIS is complex. Many
organic compounds have been isolated, some with narcotic properties and
others without. A fresh plant yields mainly cannabidiolic acids, precursors
of the tetrahydrocannabinols and related constituents, such as cannabinol,
cannabidiol, tetrahydrocannabinol-carboxylic acid, stereoisomers of tetrahydroconnabinol,
and cannabichromene. It has been demonstrated recently
that the main effects are attributable to delta -1- tetrahydrocannobinol.
The tetrahydrocannabinols, which form an oily mixture of several isomers,
are non-nitrogenous organic compounds derived from terpenes (see page 16).
They are not alkaloids, although traces of alkaloids have been reported
in the plant. Until recently, little was known about
the effects of pure tetrahydrocannabinol on man. Controlled studies are
basic to any progress. These are now possible with the recent synthesis
of the compound, a major advance in studying the mechanism of physiological
activity of this intoxicant. Because the crude cannabis preparations normally
used as a narcotic vary greatly in their chemical composition, any correlations
of their biological activity would be relatively meaningless.

A crude woodcut illustration of cannabis
from the 1517 edition of the European herbal Ortus sanitatis de herbis
et plantis.

Assortment of cannabis pipes and water
pipes.

METHODS OF USING CANNABIS vary.
In the New World, marihuana (maconha in Brazil) is smoked--the dried, crushed
flowering tips or leaves, often mixed with tobacco in cigarettes, or "reefers."
Hasheesh, the resin from the female plant, is eaten or smoked, often in
water pipes, by millions in Moslem countries of northern Africa and western
Asia. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the resin is commonly smoked. Asiatic
Indians regularly employ three preparations narcotically: bhang consists
of plants thst are gathered green, dried, and made into a drink with water
or milk or into a candy (majun) with sugar and spices; charas, normally
smoked or eaten with spices, is pure resin; ganjah, usually smoked with
tobacco, consists of resin-rich dried tops from the female plant. Many
of these unusually potent preparations may be derived from C. indica.NARCOTIC USE OF CANNABIS has grown in popularity
in the past 40 years as the plant has spread to nearly all parts of the
globe. The narcotic use of cannabis in the United States dates from the
1920's and seems to have started in New Orleans and vicinity. Increase
in the plant's use as an inebriant in Western countries, especially in
urban centers, has led to major problems and dilemmas for European and
American authorities. There is a sharp division of opinion as to whether
the widespread narcotic use of cannabis is a vice that must be stamped
out or is an innocuous habit that should be permitted legally. The subject
is debated hotly, usually with limited knowledge. We do not yet have the
medical, social, legal, and moral information on which to base a sound
judgment. As one writer has said, the marihuana problem needs "more light
and less heat." Controlled, scientifically valid experiments with cannabis,
involving large numbers of individuals, have not as yet been made.

Contemporary American cannabis shoulder
patches.

EFFECTS OF CANNABIS, even more than of other
hallucinogens, are highly variable from person to person and from one plant
strain to another. This variability comes mainly from the unstable character
of some of the constituents. Over a period of time, for example, the inactive
cannabidiolic acid converts to active tetrahydrocannabinols and eventually
to inactive cannabinol, such chemical changes usually taking place more
rapidly in tropical than in cooler climates. Material from plants of different
ages may thus vary in narcotic effect. The principal narcotic effect is euphoria.
The plant is sometimes not classified as hallucinogenic, and it is true
that its characteristics are not typically psychotomimetic. Everything
from a mild sense of ease and well-being to fantastic dreams and visual
and auditory hallucinations are reported. Beautiful sights, wonderful music,
and aberrations of sound often entrance the mind; bizarre adventures to
fill a century take place in a matter of minutes. Soon after taking the drug, a subject
may find himself in a dreamy state of altered consciousness. Normal thought
is interrupted, and ideas are sometimes plentiful though confused. A feeling
of exaltation and inner joy may alternate, even dangerously, with feelings
of depression, moodiness, uncontrollable fear of death, and panic. Perception
of time is almost invariably altered. An exaggeration of sound, out of
all relation to the real force of the sound emitted, may be accompanied
by a curiously hypnotic sense of rhythm. Although the occasional vivid
visual hallucinations may have sexual coloring, the often-reported aphrodisiac
properties of the drug have not been substantiated.

In
many parts of Asia the use of cannabis preparations is both socially and
legally acceptable. In predominantly Moslem countries, Cannabis is usually
smoked in water pipes sometimes called hookahs. The illustration shows
an Afghani using one of the many kinds of water pipes seen in Asia.